Brick-machine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. S. L. SHELLENBBRGER.

BRICK MACHINE.- No. 348,425. Patented Aug. 31, 18-86.

' m2: 2 N a (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S. L. SHELLENBERGER.

BRICK MACHINE.

No. 348,425. Patented Aug. 31, 1886.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

S. L. SHBLLENBERGER.

. BRICK MACHINE. No. 348,425. Patented Aug. 31, 1886.

UNITE SATES SAMUEL L. SHELLENBERGER, OF TYLER, TEXAS.

BRICK-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 34 dated August 31,1886.

Application filed July 20, 1885.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL L. SHnLLnN- BERGER, of the city of Tyler,county of Smith and State of Texas, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Brick-Machines, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a brick-machine; and my invention consists infeatures of novelty hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in theclaims.

In this machine the molds are carried on a horizontal reciprocatingframe,and act in conjunction with fixed plunger-s. The bricks aredischarged downward on an off-bearing belt or other receiver, saidreceiver forming no part of the invention and not being shown. Themovement of the mold-carriage will be described as caused by a cam-wheelof peculiar construction; but no claim is made therefor in thisapplication, as I purpose to make claim for the same as a new mechanicalmovement or device for converting motion.

Figure 1 is a side view of the machine with part broken out. Fig. 2 is atop view plan. Fig. 3 is a detail vertical longitudinal section at IIIIII, Fig. 7. Fig. 4 is a detail vertical longitudinal section at IV 1V,Fig. 7. Fig. 5 is a transverse section at V V, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is atransverse section at VI VI, Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a transverse section atVII VII, Fig. 3. Fig. Sis a transverse section at VIII VIII, Fig. 3.Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail side view, showing the pitman-rack, bywhich the brick-discharger is actuated in engagement with the cogs ofthe canrwheel; and Fig. 10is a similar View, except that the pitman isout of engagement with said wheel. Figs. 11 and 12 are enlarged sideviews of the cam-wheel and latches or pivoted guides in differentpositions. Fig. 13 is a diametric section of the cam-wheel at XIII XIII,Fig. 11. Fig. 14 is a section on the line XIV XIV, Fig. 3, showing themanner in which the rubber facings of the plungers rest against theirsupports or backings.

The frame of the machine may be of any suitable construction. It hasside bars, A, on which the drive-shaft B has bearing. This shaft isshown with a pulley, O, to take a. belt by which the machine is driven.A sprocketwheel for a drive-chain or a cog-wheel may be used in place ofthe pulley, or the shalt be driven in any other manner, or whollydispensed with and the power applied to the cam-wheel shaft D. Even thecam-wheel may be dispensed with and the carriage actuated by othermeans, as the operation of the molds is not dependent on any novelpeculiarity of the actuating devices of the carriage, except that themovement should be slower when the pressure of the clay is taking place,and should cease during the discharge of the bricks after theirexpulsion from the molds. The carriage has side bars, E, which arelongitudinally slotted at F for the passage of the cog-wheel shaft,which shaft acts as a guide for the rear end of the carriage. The moldsare at the front end of the carriage, and should be made of steel,either cast in one solid piece or constructed of two or more pieces.There may be a single mold, or two or more, four molds being shown.

G is the top plate, II the lower plate, I the side plates, and J thedivision-plates, forming four rectangular molds having movable bottomplates, K. All of the bottom plates have rear or tail bars, L, throughmortises in which a single transverse bar, M, passes, the ends of saidbar working in slots N of the box 0 and side bars,A, in which the headof the carriage and molds work. The tail-bars are fixed in position oncross-bar M by pins or set-screws.

l is an orifice in the bottom of the box, through which the bricks aredischarged after they have been ejected from the. molds (by the outwardmovement of the bottoms K.) At the top of each mold is an orifice, Q,through which any surplusage of clay is discharged while the pressure istaking place. The plungers have each a rectangular cup, R, in which titsa rubber block, S, of which the main part of the plunger-face is formed,the rubber being inclosed in a rectangular ferrule, T, which is securedto the cup 1% by a bolt, U, passing through a transverse hole, U, in thecup, of somewhat larger size than the bolt, so that the ferrule has alimited backward and forward movement on the cup. The central part ofthe rubber fits snugly in the cup; but nearer the outside the rubberblock does not fit tightly in the cup, aspace, as at S, being leftbetween them, so that when the pressure is on the clay the sides of theplunger fall back slightly, giving the faeeofthe mold a somewhat roundedor convex form, and causing that side of the brick to be somewhat hollowor concave; then when the pressure is removed, the face of the plungerresumes its flat form and the brick is disengaged from the plunger. Eachplunger has a tail-bar, V, which fits between the top and bottom bars ofthe transverse abutment W.

X are transverse bolts, which pass through the sides of the main frameand through the tail-bars V, and which have upon them nuts Y, by whichthe plungers maybe nicely adj usted to the molds. bearing against theend bar, A, of the main frame. The edges of the molds are made flaring,as seen in Figs. 3, 4., and 7, to guide the plungers in their entranceand to keep the inside of the box 0 clear of clay by scraping it as themolds advance. The top of the box 0 may be open, as shown, or may becovered, except where the hopper Z (containing the clay) is placed. Thehopperis so constructed that in the absence of the mold from beneath itthe clay falls into the box 0 in sufficicnt quantity to form a pressingor batch of bricks, or a little over this amount of clay. Then when themold-case comes forward, anysurplusage more than the molds are capableof receiving may be forced backward into the hopper. The clay containedin the molds 'is compressed as the plungers enter them, and anysurplusage escapes through the holes Qand lies 011 the top plate of themold-case, and is scraped therefrom by the lower edge of the hopper asthe carriage moves backward, and falls down into the box 0, to be takenup in the next forward movement of the molds. As

the carriage moves backward,thebar M passes beneath the inclined ends aof the latches a, (see Figs. 1 and 8 and dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 4,)and arrives at the end of the slot N shortly before the carriage arrivesat its rear position. The latches a workvertically in guides b and areattached to a bar, 0, extending transversely over the 1nachine-frame,said bar working in guides (1. Upon the bar a are anti-frictionrollers,which at the-proper time are acted on by inclined blocks f onthe carriage to lift the latches a and release the mold-bottoms, so thatthey may move forward. The arrangement is such that the forward movementof the mold bottoms is arrested until the forward movement of thecarriage has carried the mold-case forward on them and the molds areopened to receive the clay. It will be seen that the mold-case continuesto move backward with the carriage, -while the backward movement of thebottoms K is arrested, and the bricks are forced from the molds as theapposture P is reached. Where the clay is of an adhesive nature thebricks stick more or less to the bottoms K, and to detach the bricks Ihave a sash-block, g,which The tail-bars have ends vted arrows.

descends at this moment and slides thebricks vertically downward on thesmooth faces of the bottoms K. The sash 9 moves in guides h. It ishinged to the lever 'i, which works on a fulcrum, j, and whose other endcarries a pendent rack-arm, 70, whose rack is engaged by the teeth ofthe cam-wheel b when the carriage is in its rear position, to throw thearm upward and the sash downward, for the purpose described.

To bring the rack it into engagement with the teeth of the cam-wheel r,the carriage has a cross-pin carrying an anti-friction roller, n, whichcomes in contact with a block, 76, as the carriage reaches its rearposition. When the rack-arm has been thrown up sufficiently,the block isdisengaged from the roller n and the rack is drawn out of engagementwith the teeth of the wheel by a spring, 0, or by the gravity of thearm, or by both. Then when the carriage again moves forward the roller ais drawn from beneath the block 70", and the rack-arm descends and thesash rises.

As before explained, the carriage may be actuated by any preferredmeans. I willnow describe the cam-wheel, which supplies an efficientmeans for this purpose, but which I make no claim for in this case. Uponthe inner side of the side bars, E, of the carriage are studs 1), whichmay be armed with antifriction rollers, and which travel cam-groovesin'the sides of the cam-wheel r. The form of the grooves is such as 'togive the required movements to the carriage by a continuous rotation ofthe cam-wheel, the movement of the studs in the groovebeing indicated bydot- It requires three rotations of the cam-wheel to give a wholeforward and backward movement to the carriage, two rotations beingrequired for the forward movement and one-half rotation for the backwardmovement, the carriage remaining at rest during one-half a rotation ofthe wheel while the bricks are being discharged and while the studs aretraversing the part of the groove between the parts S S", this part ofthe groove being concentric with the wheel. I YVhen the stud is passingin the groove from S to S, the carriage is making its retrograde orrearward movement. \Vhen the stud is traversing the groove from S to S,the carriage is making its forward movement.

it and u are the switches, by which the stud is diverted from one partof the groove to another, as can be readily perceived by examination ofthe same in their different positions shown in Figs. 11 and 12. It maybe seen that when the stud passes any switch it comes in contact withone of the curved horns and swings the switch over, so that theguide-tail t or a, as the case may be, switches the stud into the otherpart of the groove and its next contact with the switch. For instance,when the stud is at s, Fig. 11, the rotation of the wheel being in thedirection indicated by the arrow at the circumference, the stud willtraverse the part of the groove S S along the curve extending in anearly radial direction, the switches being in proper position for this,while if the stud were in this place and the switches in the positionshown in Fig. 12, the stud would follow the other curve, and the wheelwould take two and a half rotations before the stud would reach thepoint S.

I have described the rubber block as fitted in a cup-formed holder, andmade of such convex form at the back so as to leave a space between therubberand holder near the edges, to allow the outer parts to fall backunder pressure; but I do not confine myself to this exact construction.There are two purposes in this, one being togive the side ofthe brick aconcave form,- but another and more important purpose is to cause theface of the rubber to change its form under pressure, so that as itresumes its normal shape when the pressure is removed it shall disengageitself from the side of the brick, and any manner of constructing orsupporting the rubber block which would accomplish this last resultwould contain an essential feature of my invention, .whethcr spacesshould be made in the rubber or between the rubber and the holder.

I am aware that movable mold-boxes are in themselves not new, and alsothat it is not new to cover the face of the plunger of abrickmachinewith rubber, and do not claim such as my invention.

I claim 1. In a brick-mold, the combination, with the horizontal box ortrough O, which serves to support the clay, and a fixed plunger, of themold-box reciprocating in said trough, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a horizontal box or trough having an orifice inthe bottom thereof, of a plunger, a mold-box reciprocating within saidhorizontal box and having a bottom plate movable independently thereof,and a stop for arresting the movement of the bottom plate as soon as itsface passes the orifice in the horizontal trough, substantially asshown, and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of reciprocating moldcase, a movable mold-bottomhaving a guide- .cnred to a metal holder,

bar working in slots of the guide-frame of the case, and automaticcatches to engage the guide-bar and prevent its movement with thecarriage at the commencement of the forward movement of the carriage,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the plunger, of a block of yielding materialsecured to the face thereof with a space between their contiguous faces,as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a brick-machine,theconibination,with a plunger, of a block ofrubber secured there to, with a space between the face of the plungerand the outer edge of the block of rubber, so as to permit the latter toyield when pressure is applied, as set forth.

6. The mold-plunger havinga rubber block surrounded by a sliding metalferrule and seaud having space to allow the face of the block to changeits form.

7. The combination, with the reciprocating mold with movable bottom andguidebar, of latches arresting the forward movement of the guide-bar,and incline upon the mold case or carriage lifting the latches when thecarriage has moved forward a given distance.

8. The combination, with a fixed plunger, of ahorizontally-reciprocati11g mold-box having a bottom plate movableindependently thereof for the purpose of ejecting the brick, as setforth.

9. The combination, with the box or trough O, and the sliding mold-boxhaving the movable bottom K, of the stop a, for controlling the movementof the plate K, and a projection from the mold-box for controlling theposition of said stop, as set forth.

10. The combination, with the sliding moldbox and the movable bottomplate, K, of the bar M, the stops a, the shaft 0, and the blocks f, allconstructed and arranged to operate as set forth.

SAMUEL L. SHELLENBERGER.

Vitn esses:

SAML. KNIGHT, BENJN. A. KNIGHT.

